Changing the 101 from high-traffic bypass to pedestrian-friendly destination is goal for cities it serves

A roundabout is a one-way circular intersection in which traffic flows around a center island.

In Solana Beach, construction is ramping up on a $7 million project to upgrade the west side of Route 101 from Dahlia to Cliff streets with new sidewalks, decorative lighting, street furniture, more crosswalks and parking spaces, new storm drains and gas, electric and water lines, and 11 distinct public gathering places.

In Encinitas, a northbound section of the roadway is being narrowed as part of a restriping project to make more room for bicyclists, and special designs are being painted in another portion to warn motorists that bikes will be merging into the main traffic lanes.

Del Mar had an ambitious plan for its downtown — including the stretch of Coast Highway known as Camino Del Mar — on the November ballot. Although voters rejected the measure, called Proposition J, DiPierro said the consultant also will look at what Del Mar officials had hoped to do. The plan called for making Camino Del Mar a two-lane road with wider sidewalks, roundabouts at key intersections and bicycle lanes.

Community eager for change

Oceanside merchant Gerard Avila, who opened his Hit the Spot Coffee shop on South Coast Highway in December, is optimistic that the city will succeed in redoing Coast Highway, and he’d like the changes to begin.

“I see potential. I don’t think the city has moved aggressively or as timely enough to do something about the great potential that exists,” Avila said. “It just seems to me that we have a jewel, and I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t be similar to Carlsbad or further south to make people at least feel welcome.”

Although Avila is a newcomer, his complaint is similar to Daley’s.

“People are just using that (Coast Highway) as a thoroughfare to go to and from without having any reason to stop right now,” Avila said. “We’re just needing the foot traffic now.”

Avila’s customers have to park on the street. If the city narrows Coast Highway, he said it would help his shop and other businesses if the city used some of the extra space to put in some angled parking.

City business groups agree that something needs to be done to improve Coast Highway.

“The current thinking is just like on Mission Avenue, it’s beneficial to businesses, the storefronts, to slow down traffic,” said Rick Wright, director of Main Street Oceanside, which is an advocate for downtown businesses.

The city is reworking the downtown segment of Mission Avenue, narrowing it from four lanes to two, widening sidewalks, making it one-way westbound and installing reverse-angle parking.

Neighborhood concerns

But Wright and Chamber of Commerce President David Nydegger said they’re a little more cautious about making dramatic changes to Coast Highway because it carries so much traffic, and there aren’t good alternate routes.

One of their concerns is that narrowing Coast Highway will funnel traffic onto neighborhood streets.

“I live on Ditmar, and it’s already used as sort of a way to get around Coast Highway,” Wright said.